


An Extra Burgler

by FantasticallyTragical



Series: An Extra Burglar [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bilbo Baggins Has a Sibling, But I won't tell you who, F/M, Gen, Mutual Pining, Someone's Gonna Die, also your girl is playing fast and loose with canon timeline of both books and movies, bilbo is much more book bilbo, gandalf - i love that old bitch, kili has one braincell and he does not use it!, slowish burn i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2020-04-06 21:57:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19071472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticallyTragical/pseuds/FantasticallyTragical
Summary: In Which Bilbo Baggins has a little sister. A retelling of The Hobbit with a second Hobbit.





	1. Prologue

"Cassia! Cassia! Cassia!" A horde of small children come barrelling around a corner and mob the young Hobbit lady.

"Whoa, there," she laughs, holding her arms out for balance as they clump around her skirts, one taking the gesture as invitation and leaping into her arms. "What's all this about?" She asks, wrapping her arms around the lass's legs, sitting her on her hip.

"Tell us the story about the dragon!" The children yell in unison.

Cassia raises an eyebrow. "That's a long story. And haven't you heard it already?"

"But it's the _best_ one!" A little brunette boy near her knee says.

"Well, it _is_ a good one," Cassia concedes. "But it's not just about a dragon."

"We know!"

She leads the children to a patch of sunlight and sits down, gathering them around her. "Oh do you? What's it also about?"

"Dwarves!"

"Trolls!"

"A battle!"

"Elves!"

"Gold!"

"Hobbits!"

"An adventure?"

"Yes, you're all right!" Cassia pushes a blonde lock of hair out of the eyes of the little boy leaning against her knee. "What about you, little one? What do _you_ think it's about?"

He takes his thumb out if his mouth with a pop. "Home?"

Cassia grins. "It's about home, too. But for me, it's a story about love."

All the children cry out with varying levels of disgust and she laughs.

“That’s yucky!” the dark-haired boy from before shouts. “No one wants to hear about kissing!”

“Don’t you worry,” Cassia assures him, “It’s not just about the kissing kind of love."

"Oh really?" he challenges, "what other kinds of love even _is_ there?"

"Oh, lots and lots," she says. "This story is about all of them, I think."

"What are they?" The lass who leapt into her arms asks.

"There's romantic love, of course," Cassia says, and the children cry out again, but she continues on doggedly, "but! But there's also love between friends, and love between family, love for your king, and love for your home. And would you believe this story is about all of them.”

“How does it start?” The blonde boy asks.

“It starts like this: _In a hole in the ground, there lived two hobbits…_ ”


	2. A Wizard At The Door

In a hole in the ground, there lived two hobbits. Not a nasty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and a wet oozy smell, nor a dry, bare, sandy hole, with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: It was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort.

This hole, or as a smial, as it was called, had, a perfectly round door like the top of a barrel, painted green, with a shiny, yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbits were fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill —The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for these hobbits: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (they had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over their garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. 

These hobbits were very well-to-do hobbits, brother and sister, and their name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how two Baggins’ had an adventure, and found themselves doing and saying things altogether unexpected. They may have lost the neighbours’ respect, but they gained—well, you will see whether they gained anything in the end.

The mother of these two siblings - of Bilbo and Cassia Baggins, that is- was the famous Belladonna Took, one of the three remarkable daughters of the Old Took, head of the hobbits who lived across The Water, the small river that ran at the foot of The Hill. It was often said (in other families) that long ago one of the Took ancestors must have taken a fairy wife. That was, of course, absurd, but certainly there was still something not entirely hobbitlike about them, and once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures. Now Cassia, to the dread of her brother and the other Bagginses, took after her mother, in both looks and temperament. As round and small as any other hobbit, to be sure, with curls so dark they were nearly black, and eyes like bluebells. She had a penchant to get into terrible scrapes, whether by design or accident, no one could be sure. Bilbo was much more the picture of a proper Baggins, stout and sandy haired, solid and comfortable and respectable. Having no adventures and doing nothing unexpected. But people always supposed that deep down, there was something odd in him, from his Tookish side, that only needed a chance to come out. The chance never came until Bilbo was a grown up hobbit of fifty, and Cassia was an almost-grown-up hobbit of thirty-one. And it happened like this: 

 

Bilbo and Cassia Baggins are out in the garden, enjoying the spring air and having the same argument they've had every morning for the last five years: whether and dwarf or an elf would be more interesting to meet. 

“Elves have huge libraries,” Bilbo says, pointing at Cassia with his pipe. She rolls her eyes and pulls a weed up with particular viciousness

“We don't know that dwarves  _ don't. _ ” She replies, waving it at him, spraying soil all over, “In fact, we know so little about dwarves which makes them interesting!”

“Elves are great healers!”

“Dwarves are master craftsmen!”

They're so engrossed in their discussion (argument) that they don't notice the approach of a stranger until a shadow falls over them.

The both look up. And up. And up. Over tattered gray robes and a long, scraggly gray beard, into an elderly face with pale blue eyes, under a tall, conical blue hat. Bilbo blinks. Cassia stares.

“Good morning,” they say in unison. 

“What do you mean?” The stranger asks, “do you mean to wish me a good morning or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning. Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?”

“All of them at once I suppose” Bilbo says. Cassia nods in agreement, still dumbstruck. Bilbo continues, as he is wont to do, “And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. If you don't have a pipe about you, sit down and have a fill of mine! There’s no hurry, we have all the day before us!” He sits down on a seat by his door (for he had been standing near Cassia, who is still crouched in the daffodil beds) crosses his legs, and blows out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that sails up into the air without breaking and floats away over The Hill. “Very pretty!” says the stranger. “But I have no time to blow smoke-rings this morning. I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.”

Cassia’s face lights up with a brilliant smile and she scrambles to her feet, showering dirt and weeds all over the path. “An  _ adventure _ ?!” she cries.

“I should think so—in these parts!” Says Bilbo at nearly the exact same time, “We are plain, quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them,” (This last bit is a jibe directed at his sister) Bilbo sticks one thumb behind his suspenders, and blows out another even bigger smoke-ring. Then he takes out his morning letters, and begins to read, pretending to take no more notice of the old man, and probably hoping his sister would take the hint. 

“That’s not true!” Cassia shoots back, “ _ I _ want an adventure!”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Bilbo says. “We don’t want any adventures here, thank you. Good Morning!”

“To think,” the stranger says, “that I would live to be 'good morninged’ by Belladonna Took's children as if I were selling buttons at the door.”

“Are you?” Cassia asks. “Selling buttons, I mean.”

The stranger blinks. “No.”

“I beg your pardon?” Bilbo splutters.

“You've changed, Bilbo Baggins, and not entirely for the better.”

“I'm sorry, do I know you?”

“Well, you know my name,” The stranger says, “Though you don't remember I belong to it. Cassia, I suppose, is just a bit too young. I'm Gandalf!”

Silence.

“And Gandalf means… me…”

Bilbo shifts, then realization dawns on his face. “G…. Gandalf! The Wandering Wizard. Who made such wonderful fireworks! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve.” He laughs. Then frowns. “I had no idea you were still in business.”

Gandalf looks put upon. “And where else should I be?”

Bilbo does not answer.

“Well,” Cassia says, “dead, I suppose. Or something. You  _ do _ look very old, mister.”

Gandalf's lips twitch. Bilbo kicks his sister in the shin. “Ouch!”

“Well,” Gandalf says, his eyes twinkling, “I'm pleased to find you remember something about me, Bilbo Baggins. Even if it's only my fireworks.” He nods and points at Bilbo. “It'll be very good for you. And most amusing for me.” He glances at Cassia, his lips twitching again. “ _ Most  _ amusing indeed. I'll call the others.”

Bilbo splutters. “No. No!” 

Cassia grins. “Yes!’

“No.” Bilbo says, dragging her towards the door. “We do not want  _ any _ adventures here, thank you.”

“We do!”

“No, we don't! Not today. Not ever. No. I suggest you try over the hill or across the water. Good morning.”

With that, the older hobbit bundles the lass into Bag End and slams shut the green door.

Cassia stomps her foot. “No fair! I want to adventure!”

Bilbo blocks her way to the door. “No, no you don't!”

“Yes I do! Don't tell me what I do and don't want!”

Bilbo locks the door. “I'm telling you no!”

“You aren't my parent!”

“Maybe so! But I'm in charge of you until you come of age! So if in two years you want to go gallivanting off, be my guest! But not today and not while I have a say! ”

“You're being a real arsemunch, Bilbo Baggins!” Cassia shrieks.

“And you're being stupidly reckless, Cassia Baggins! Adventures are dangerous!”

Cassia opens her mouth again, but he slams his hand over it and points to the door, from which is coming a faint scratching noise. Bilbo drags her over and peers out the window.

He's met by a pale, glaring blue eye, and jumps back, knocking Cassia over.

“Hey!” She says.

“Hush!” Bilbo hisses. He hurries to the kitchen window and watches as the wizard walks off. “How terrible,” he sighs.

“I thought he was interesting!” Cassia says. “is he really a wizard?”

Bilbo sighs. “I don't know, Cassia. He's very odd and a little frightening, that's for sure.”

“I  _ liked _ him.”

“Of course you did.”


	3. An Unexpected Party

That very night, as Cassia and Bilbo sit down for supper, there's a knock at the door.

“Go get the door,” Bilbo says. 

“You do it!” Cassia shoots back, shoving food in her mouth. “I'm eating.”

“It's my house.” 

“Yeah, so you should do it.”

“Rock Paper Scissors, then,” Bilbo says, holding out his fist. Cassia nods. 

“Alright, on shoot?”

“Yes. Ready?”

Cassia chooses rock. Bilbo chooses paper, grinning at her. “Gotcha.”

“Oh, come on. Best out of three?”

“Uh, no. I won.”

Cassia squints at her brother, and slowly wipes her mouth. “You always win.”

“Well, I  _ am _ the older brother.”

She stomps out to the foyer, yanks the door open, and finds herself staring at a broad chest. She looks up into a fearsome, scarred face with a bushy beard. A dwarf. A dwarf is standing on her doorstep! She blinks, a little too shocked to speak.

“Dwalin.” The Dwarf says, and bows. “At your service.”

“Cassia Baggins,” Cassia replies with a curtsey, good manners taking over. “At yours.”

The dwarf moves to step inside, but Cassia blocks him. “Do we know each other?”

“No.”

“Why are you here?”

“Gandalf said to meet here.”

“The wizard sent you?”

“Aye… may I come in?”

Cassia steps back, never one to be shocked by the unexpected. “Certainly. Please wipe your boots, sir. You can hang your coat by the door. I'll tell my brother you've arrived. Are you hungry?”

“The wizard said there'd be food. And lots of it.”

Cassia bustles down the hall. “Bilbo! There's a dwarf here!”

Bilbo leaps out of his chair. “What?!”

Cassia points to the imposing figure towering near her left shoulder. “See?”

“Do we know each other?” Bilbo asks.

Mister Dwalin shakes his head, and bows. “Dwalin. At your service.”

“Bilbo Baggins… at yours.”

Cassia directs Dwalin to the spare chair and serves him up the rest of the fish and tucks in herself. 

Bilbo grabs her and drags her down the hall. “Please excuse us for a moment,” he says, waving. Dwalin nods absently.

“What were you thinking?!” Bilbo hisses, once they're out of earshot, “letting some random dwarf into the house.”

“But he's not random. He said the wizard sent him. Besides, he seems nice.”

Biblo pulls at his curls. “You can't let strangers into the house on account of them saying they were sent by a wizard we barely know! That’s dangerous! And nice?! Cassia, he could kill you with his pinkie finger.”

“Perhaps, but he  _ hasn't. _ ” She frowns. “How do you think he got the scar on his face?”

“If you ask him, _I_ will kill you,” Bilbo says. The bell rings and Cassia grins. 

“Your turn!” She turns on her heels with a swish of her patchwork robe and heads back towards the kitchen. “I am going to ask Mister Dwalin how he got his scar.”

Bilbo splutters, torn between stopping his sister and getting the door, before finally settling on the latter. He opens it to reveal a stout, elderly dwarf, white of hair and beard.

“Balin,” says the dwarf, spreading his arms, “at your service.” He bows.

Bilbo responds in a bit of a daze. “Good evening.”

“Yes,” Balin says, “yes, it is!” He steps in. “Though I think it might rain later. Am I late?”

“Late for what?”

“The party.” Balin turns to spy Dwalin in the next room, regaling Cassia with some morbid tale and shoveling cookies in his mouth. He laughs. “Evening, brother.”

Dwalin laughs, too. “By my beard! You're shorter and wider than when we last met!”

“Wider,” Balin says, “but not shorter. Sharp enough for both of us.” He winks.

The two laugh, grab each other by the arms, and slam their foreheads together in greeting. Cassia lets out a delighted laugh. This is just fantastic.

Balin turns to her, then, and bows. “Balin, lassie, at your service.”

Cassia jumps to her feet and curtseys. “Cassia Baggins! At yours!”

“Now, lassie,” Balin says, “there shall be lots of dwarves coming and it doesn't seem like you have anything prepared. My brother and I would be delighted to help.”

“How many dwarves?”

“Thirteen, including my brother and me.”

“That certainly is a lot.” Cassia taps her chin thoughtfully. “Yes, we best get to work. I can't have anyone thinking Bag End is inhospitable. What would Mama say if she were here.” She snags a cookie and gnaws on it thoughtfully. “Right. The pantry is this way.”

Vaguely, Cassia can hear her brother rambling on in the background as she points out food to the brothers. 

“What's this?”

“Cheese.”

“It's stinky. Has it gone bad?”

“It's supposed to be like that,” Cassia says, “it's Lindburger. Don't finger it up.”

“I had to speak my mind. I'm sorry.”

The brothers and Cassia turn to Bilbo. “Apology accepted,” Balin says. Cassia smiles and nods. Then returns to her task.

“What shall your friends like to drink? We have tea and we have a few barrels of ale. Bilbo, do we have milk?”

“No, you drank it all this morning.”

“Hm. Pity.” 

The bell rings again. Cassia doesn't hear, as she has herself halfway on a shelf, handing Balin several loaves of bread. “I made these yesterday. It's wheat and rye… we might have sweet rolls. If I didn't eat them. Could you check that top shelf please, Mister Dwalin?”

Bilbo sighs and goes to get the door. 

 

Cassia hears more voices and pokes her head out of the pantry to see two more dwarves barge in, seeming younger than Balin and Dwalin, one dark-haired and one blonde, brothers as well, she assumes, despite their different coloring, there’s some resemblance between them, maybe the shape of their grins or the way they walk. She can’t place it. 

“Make sure to wipe your boots,” she instructs, “I just swept.”

The two nod and comply, leaving their weapons by the door at her instruction as well. "I’m Kili," says the dark haired dwarf, bobbing a bow and giving her a bright, friendly grin and pointing to his companion. “That’s my brother.”

His brother doesn't tear his gaze from Cassia, stepping forward and taking her hand, bowing over it.

"Fili," he says, pressing a whiskery kiss to the back of it and giving her a slow wink. "And I am entirely at your service, miss."

Cassia can feel her face reddening. "Ah, um… I'm Cassia Baggins. At yours." Why on earth is she blushing? Part of it might be the fact that she’s being greeted by a handsome dwarf around her age and she’s in her nightgown. Just a part of it, though.

Fili gives her another long look up and down. “Do you always greet visitors in your nightie?” he asks, cocking one eyebrow. Cassia has no choice but to flirt back. Really. 

She flutters her eyelashes at him in a way that she knows makes every self respecting lad stop in his tracks. “Only the handsome ones, sir.”

Fili lets out a laugh, finally letting go of her hand. “You better go change, then, no one else is gonna come through that door who’s as handsome as me.”

Cassia giggles. 

“Fili, Kili,” Dwalin says, appearing round the corner, “come give us a hand.”

“Mr. Dwalin.” Kili grins.

Fili lets go of Cassia's hand, giving her one last smile.

“Let's move this,” Balin says, gesturing to the dining table. It’s one of those huge old ones, built right here in the smial. “We'll never get everyone in.”

“Everyone?!” Bilbo exclaims, “how many more are coming?!”

Cassia looks at him. “Mister Balin said thirteen in total.” 

The doorbell rings and Bilbo marches off, muttering.

“Please excuse him,” Cassia says, “he gets nervous. Also we had no warning so he's under a lot of stress. He's really quite nice when you get to know him.”

There’s a commotion in the foyer, and the next thing she knows, Bag End is completely filled with dwarves and one wizard, milling around, grabbing food from the pantry with little more than a how do you do, which would really irk her if she wasn't so utterly fascinated. They all seem to be quite nice people, in their own odd, rough ways, and quite respectful of her, giving her little bows whenever she's nearby. But it’s very tight in the smial, now, and someone bumps her and she almost falls, but she's caught by a pair of strong arms. "Watch where you're going, Nori," Fili says angrily, setting her upright. "You all right, lass? Sorry about them, they can get pretty rowdy."

"I'm fine," she says.

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?"

She nods, laughing. "I've always wanted to meet dwarves. And today I've met twelve."

"Really? Why would you want to meet a dwarf?"

"Because you're different. And interesting. Sorry. That's a little odd, isn't it?"

Fili shrugs. "Little bit. Everyone's a bit odd, though, aren't they?"

Cassia laughs and Fili moves her out of the way of a dwarf coming through with a bowl of tomatoes. Cassia frowns, turning around in his hold. "Oh, Bilbo won't like that. Those're our prizewinners."

True to her prediction, Bilbo appears seemingly out of nowhere to wrest the tomatoes out of the dwarf's hand. Fili snorts, removing his hands from her waist. 

"Fili!" His brother shouts. "Come help me with this!"

The blonde sighs. "I better attend to that, before he gets frantic. If you'll excuse me."

Cassia giggles. "I better check on my brother, too."

She trots off to check on Bilbo, who seems to be hyperventilating in the parlor. 

"Are you okay?" She asks, touching his arm. He glares at her.

"Do I look okay?" 

"You like parties, though!"

"I like to know when visitors are coming, and I like them to let me know beforehand!"

"Oh, relax. It's not so bad."

"You're just liking that the blonde one is flirting with you."

Cassia glares, feeling her cheeks reddening. "His name is Fili, and he's really quite nice."

Bilbo glares at her. "I can't believe you."

"Oh, come off it, it's just flirting." She grabs his arm and drags him out into the dining room. "Look, they're having fun. Isn't that nice?"

"No." Bilbo snaps, stomping off to check his pantry. He takes one look and bypasses all the stages of grief right to anger. He storms over to Gandalf and starts begging for an explanation. 

“And what's worse,” Bilbo continues, “the blond one has taken a liking to my sister!”

“Has he?” Gandalf asks, sounding quite surprised. He turns to eye… Fili, was it? as the dwarf says something and winks at Cassia, very obviously flirting, but not doing a great job. Cassia giggles ( _ giggles!!!! _ ) evidently flirting right back.

“Hm,” the wizard says, “I suppose he has. I wouldn't worry. He's a good lad.”

“I don't understand what they're doing in my house!” Bilbo hisses.

“Excuse me,” says a dwarf, walking up. “I don't mean to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?”

Cassia takes it from him. “Give it here. I'll wash it.”

“No need for that, lass,” Fili says, plucking it out of her hands. “We'll take care of it, you just sit tight.” He winks and tosses the plate towards his brother. “Kili! Catch!”

Cassia squeaks with surprise. “Be careful! Mama loved those plates!”

“Ah, don't worry,” Fili says, catching another plate thrown at him. “We won't break them.” He bounces a bowl from elbow to elbow, peeking at Cassia (quite obviously showing off) and puffs up a bit when she looks appropriately impressed. Bilbo panics, though, as a few dwarves still seated begin pounding their fists and clinking cutlery together.

“Can you not do that?” He asks, “you’ll blunt them.”

“Oh, ya hear that lads?” Says one of the dwarves, “he says we'll blunt the knives!” And with that, they're all singing, tossing dishes around Bag End with frightening accuracy.

_ Chip the glasses and crack the plates!  _

_ Blunt the knives and bend the forks!  _

_ That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates–  _

_ Smash the bottles and burn the corks!  _

 

_ Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!  _

_ Pour the milk on the pantry floor!  _

_ Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!  _

_ Splash the wine on every door!  _

 

Fili grabs Cassia’s hand at this point in the song and begins to twirl her around in a fast jig in time with the song. She laughs, clinging to his arms. These dwarves are great fun.

 

_ Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;  _

_ Pound them up with a thumping pole; _

_  And when you’ve finished, if any are whole, _

_  Send them down the hall to roll!  _

 

_ That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates! _

_  So, carefully! carefully with the plates!  _

 

Of course, they did none of these things, even as Bilbo is spinning round and round in the kitchen, trying to see what they are doing. Fili ends his jig by dipping Cassia dramatically. They’re interrupted by a knock at the door and everyone freezes.

“He’s here,” Gandalf says somewhat ominously.

Fili pulls Cassia back upright, setting her on her feet. “Who’s here?” she asks. 

“Our uncle,” he replies. 

A very important dwarf walks in just then, and Fili and his brother greet him warmly. Cassia drops a curtsey, because that just feels polite.

“Bilbo, Cassia,” Gandalf says, “allow me to introduce the leader of our Company, Thorin Oakenshield.”

Thorin peers closely at the two hobbits. “So,” he says, “these are our burglars.” He glances at Gandalf. “You failed to mention one of them was a lass.”

Cassia frowns. Bilbo raises an eyebrow. “My sister won’t be going anyw-”

“I assure you,” Gandalf says, like Bilbo hasn’t even opened his mouth, “there are none more suited for the job than these two.”

Thorin seems to take the wizards word for it, circling Bilbo and his sister. “Tell me, have you done much fighting? Sword or axe, what's your weapon of choice?”

"Does a sling count as a weapon?" Cassia asks him.

“I have some skill at conkers,” Bilbo says sarcastically, “but I fail to see how that's relevant.”

Thorin doesn't seem to get the joke, just nods with a resigned look. “I thought as much. He looks more to be a grocer than a burglar.”

The dwarves laugh.

“That's a very respected job, you know,” Cassia says before the laughter dies down. Thorin shoots her a surprised look. “I know some very fierce grocers.” 

Kili snorts at that and everyone files back into the dining room. Bilbo and Cassia still have no idea what is going on and lurk near the doorway listening.

“They say this quest is ours, and ours alone,” Thorin says.

“You're going on a quest?” Bilbo asks. Everyone looks at him.

“Are you?” Cassia queries.

“Bilbo, my dear fellow,” Gandalf says, breaking the awkward silence, “let us have a little more light.” Bilbo fetches a lamp. “Far to the East,” the wizard begins, unfolding something from his pocket, “over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak.” Gandalf lays down a map.

“The Lonely Mountain,” Bilbo reads.

“Erebor,” Cassia says. “One of the seven dwarven kingdoms.”

The dwarves stare at her. “How'd you know that?” Thorin asks. Cassia blushes a little at the attention.

“Oh… I read a lot. I've read some dwarven fairy tales. And histories. Nothing… nothing detailed. Just stories.”

“Hm.” 

“Oin has read the portents,” Gloin speaks up, “and the portents say it is time!”

“Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain,” his brother says, “as it was foretold: when the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end.”

“Uh,” Bilbo speaks up, “what beast?”

“Well, that would be reference to Smaug the Terrible,” Bofur says, “Chiefest and Greatest Calamity of our age.”

“So there really is a dragon?” Cassia mutters as Bofur continues his grisly description.

“Yes,” Bilbo interrupts, “I know what a dragon is.”

“The task itself would be hard enough with an army behind us,” Balin says, “and we number just thirteen. And not thirteen of the best. Or brightest.”

That causes an uproar.

“We may be few in number,” Fili says, “but we're fighters. All of us! To the last dwarf!”

“And you forget we have a wizard in our company!” Kili adds, “Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time.”

Gandalf stutters as the others exclaim and and turn to look at him. The dwarves immediately devolve into a shouting match that has Cassia covering her ears and staring with wide eyes. 

“NO MORE!!!” Thorin roars, rising to his feet. His people sit down immediately. “If we have read these signs, do you not think others have read them as well? The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years, and people have begun to wonder. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?!”

The dwarves cheer and pound on the table.

“You forget,” Balin says, “the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the Mountain.”

“That, my dear Balin,” Gandalf says, “is not entirely true.” He produces a key out of seemingly nowhere.

“How came you by this?” Thorin asks.

“It was given to me by your father, for safekeeping.” Gandalf hands it to the dwarf. “It is yours now.” He points the map. “The runes here speak of a secret door into the lower halls. I cannot read them, but there are others in Middle-Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth and no small amount of courage. But if you're careful, and quiet, I believe it can be done.”

“That's why you need a burglar,” Cassia says.

“An expert, I suppose,” Bilbo adds.

“And are you?”

“Am I what?” Bilbo asks

Cassia strokes her chin, “I've nicked a few vegetables in my time.”

Fili snorts at that and she grins at him.

“Neither of us are burglars!” Bilbo says, sounding offended. “I've never stolen a thing in my life!”

“I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Mister Baggins,” Balin sighs.

“Aye,” Dwalin says, “the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves.”

The discussion devolves into shouting once more.

**“IF I SAY CASSIA AND BILBO BAGGINS ARE BURGLARS THEN BURGLARS THEY ARE!”** Gandalf thunders. “Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet, and can go nigh unseen if they so choose to. They're clever folk, with hidden depth. You must trust me on this.”

“Give them the contracts,” Thorin says after a while.

Balin does so, saying things about payment and funeral arrangements. Cassia's not listening already reading and halfway down the page.

“ _ Incineration _ ?!” Bilbo says.

“Oh, aye,” Bofur says, “He'll melt the flesh off your bones within a blink of an eye.”

“Oh,” Bilbo whimpers.

Cassia pats his shoulder soothingly. “It would be a quick way to go,” she says.

Bilbo glares.

“Think furnace, with wings.” Bofur says. “Flash of light, then poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash.”

“Ah,” Bilbo murmurs. “Nope!” Then he faints, knocking Cassia to the floor.

“Oh no!” She cries, shoving him off her, “Bilbo?”

“Thank you, Bofur,” Gandalf says resignedly.

“I think we should help them,” Cassia says. She’s set a cup of fresh tea at Bilbo’s elbow and is sipping her own. Her brother gives her an incredulous look.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me,” she says, taking another sip.

“Are you insane?”

“Don’t be rude!” Cassia gasps. “Besides, we should help people if we can.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous! I really want to help them! Mama would, if she were here!”

“Well, it’s a good thing she’s not.”

“Bilbo!”

“What?”

“What’s  _ wrong _ with you?” Cassia says, leaning back. “Why are you acting like this?”

“I don’t want to go on any adventures, I don’t want  _ you _ to go in any adventures or flirt with any dwarves and I don’t want those dwarves in my house!”

Cassia scoffs in disgust. “It wasn’t flirting and if you have your way, I’ll probably never see him again, so it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“And if you had your way, you’d go gallivanting off to places unknown and probably end up marrying that dwarf and have ten children.”

She stomps her foot. “What’s wrong with you? You’re being mean! You’re stuck-up and fussy and just as bad as the rest of the Baggins clan! What happened to you?”

Bilbo glares at her. “What happened? What happened is Mama died and I had to give up all my dreams and care for a little sister I never wanted!”  

Cassia gasps and jumps up. “Well, sor-ry! I didn’t ask to be born and I didn’t ask for Mama to die! And I didn’t ask for Allen to dump me and I didn't ask to be dumped with you!" She throws her tea at her brother and storms out of the room, tears pricking behind her eyes.

"Cassia, wait!" Bilbo says, jumping up. "Wait, I didn't… I didn't mean that…"

In the hall, she stumbles across Thorin and Balin. "It appears we have lost our burglars,” Balin is saying, and she stops to listen. It's not very polite, but it's her house, so there. 

“It’s probably for the best," the white haired dwarf continues. "The odds were always against us.”

“I should have known better than to come all this way,” Thorin sighs, “We should have left immediately. It seems that generations of peace have made these people soft and defenseless. They would have no place amongst us. They care for nothing but their home and their pleasures. They know nothing of the hardship of the world.” 

“With all due respect,” Cassia blurts, stepping around the corner, her hands wrung in fists, tears in her eyes, “That’s not entirely true.”

The two dwarves look at her, a little surprised. “Were you eavesdropping?” Thorin rumbles. 

“You weren’t exactly being quiet,” she shoots back, stomping one foot in almost childish indignation. “It's my house. And anyway, you cannot go around making assumptions of people you do not know. My brother and I  _ do _ know hardship. Maybe we don’t look it, but we have felt loss, too.” She takes a deep breath. “That’s all I wanted to say.” And then she’s rushing down the hall and out the door, feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes. In her abandon, she doesn’t look where she’s going and smacks dead into someone’s back, falling back on her bottom. That seems to just pile on a day that has been steadily getting worse and worse, and she bursts into tears. “I’m sorry,” she sniffles, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to walk into you.”

The person she ran into crouches down in front of her. It's Fili, peering at her with concern in his blue eyes, and that just piles embarrassment onto the storm of emotions she's already feeling. She covers her eyes and ducks her head between her knees. 

“Hey, are you alright?” He asks, putting a hand on her shoulder. Cassia shrugs. No, she's not all right. 

"I'm sorry," she sobs. "I'm a mess. I just had a fight with my brother." Oh, she hopes he won’t tease her for crying. He already seems like a joker. She hopes he isn’t a cruel one.

"Ah," Fili says, not teasing at all. "Well, there's no use sitting in the dirt." He slides his hand down her arm and takes her hand. "Come on, up you get." 

Cassia sniffles and lets him help her up, looking up into his face. He seems genuinely concerned about her. "Thank you, Mister Fili."

He rubs the back of his head awkwardly, an oddly sweet image to reconcile with the lad who kissed her hand and winked at her not an hour ago. "Just Fili is fine, miss. I reckon we're around the same age, anyway."

“You can call me Cassia, then,” She says, with a wobbly smile. She thinks she could be friends with this dwarf.

He returns the smile, giving her hand a last, comforting squeeze, and dropping it. "Well, Cassia, I'd offer you a handkerchief, but, well, I haven't got one."

Cassia manages a rather damp laugh, wiping away the last of her tears with the heels of her hands.“That's okay.” She pulls up her apron and dabs at her eyes. "What are you doing out here?” He holds up a very intricately carved pipe.

“I was going to have a smoke. Needed some time away from everyone, you know?”

She nods. “I know.” She steps around him and sits down on the bench beside the door, patting the space next to her.

“I just needed some air. I hope you don't mind if I'm here.”

Fili sits down beside her, taking a pouch of pipeweed out of his pocket and preparing his pipe. “Not at all,” he says around the stem of it. "It's your garden." He lights it and leans back. 

There's silence for a minute, Fili puffs on his pipe and Cassia fiddles with her apron.

He blows a few smoke rings and she glances at him, studying his profile in the light from the kitchen window, evaluating this new side of him: sensitive and kind and a little quiet. He turns just then and meets her eyes.

“You want to come with us,” he says without much preamble. She nods. “Why?”

“I don't have any parents,” Cassia says, “so I know what it's like to not feel like you belong anywhere.”

“You have your brother, though, right?” He winces. “And, you just mentioned you got in a fight with him. Sorry.”

“Well,” she says. “Everyone fights with their siblings. And yes. He takes care of me. After Mama and Papa died, he could have shipped me off to the Brandybuck Hall or something. Or given me to a cousin who knew what they were doing. But he didn't, because family sticks together, see. We don't always get along but I love him, you know?”

“I know.” 

She kicks her legs for a moment. “And I guess… I guess my motivation isn't completely unselfish.”

He looks at her, raising an eyebrow.

“I want to see the world,” she says. “And that's a rather unhobbitlike aspiration. But I've never left the Shire. Not even to go to Bree or anywhere. And I love it. It's home. But someday I do want to settle down and get married and have children. And I don't want to leave my kids to go on an adventure, so it's best I do it now.”

“The world's nothing like the Shire,” Fili says softly.

“I know,” she replies. “That's why I want to see it.”

“Hm.”

They fall back into silence and it’s soft and comfortable. 

“You know,” Fili says, taking his pipe out of his mouth. “I have to admit, I’ve never even seen the Lonely Mountain.”

“You haven’t?” She asks, frowning, “Then why are you going on this quest?”

“I guess I wanted an adventure, too.”

She grins at him. “I guess we have that in common.”

“I guess we do.”

Silence falls again, and Cassia leans over and plucks a daffodil. It’s April, and almost the whole bed of them are standing tall and bright. “Daffodils are my favorite flowers,” She says, holding it to her nose, “you know why?”

Fili looks down at her, raising an eyebrow. “I must admit I don’t know much about plants. They’re pretty enough, I think.”

She grins at him. “Yes, they’re gorgeous. But that’s not why I like them.”

“Why do you like them?”

“I like them because they’re one of the few flowers that can bloom through snow. They’re the first sign of spring, and they mean hope.”

“Flowers have meanings?” Fili asks.

“Yes. You didn’t know that?”

“I knew gemstones had meanings, but not flowers,” He reaches over and touches one petal. “It’s odd to me that something so… temporary has a meaning.”

Cassia laughs. “Yes. Hope and good fortune. Luck. A gift of them is supposed to ensure happiness. But only in a bunch, see, if you only give one, its bad luck.”

“Really?”

“Really. It… makes me think of you all. Not that I really know you… just… I bet if you all stick together you’ll succeed.” She grins at him. “I think you have a chance.”

“A chance, huh?”

“I don’t think your uncle would take you and your brother along if there wasn’t one. He loves you two. I noticed it when he first arrived, the way he looks at you two.”

Fili smiles. “He does.” She takes his hand and turns it over, placing the bloom in his palm.  

“Keep this. I bet it’ll bring you luck.”

“Just one?” he asks. “I thought that was bad luck.”

“So it is.” Cassia reaches down and picks a second and third bloom, handing those to him, too. “There we go. No bad luck for you. It wouldn’t do. I’d like to see you again, after all this is over.”

His smile widens and Cassia notices that he has a dimple in his left cheek. “I think I’d like that, too.”

“Fili!” Kili pokes his head out the door just them, startling both of them. “Thorin’s been looking for you.”

Fili puts out his pipe and stands, offering a hand to Cassia to help her up. She takes it gratefully. “Thorin’s always looking for me, Kili,” He says. His brother laughs.

“Aye, and I doubt neither he nor Master Baggins would be all too thrilled about you two out here alone. One might think you’d be trying something improper.”

Fili blushes and thumps Kili on the head. “‘Ey, shut it.”

Cassia laughs, and clasps her hand to her chest in mock offense. “For shame, Master Dwarf, I am a  _ lady _ .”

Kili gives her a lopsided grin. “And I find that hard to believe, miss.”

“Well,” She says, “You’d be right.” The three of them wander inside to find their elders crowded around the fire in the den. Cassia bids goodnight to Fili and Kili and heads down the hall to bed as the dwarves begin singing. It’s a soft, deep song, about long-forgotten gold and a lost home, and as she passes her brother in the kitchen, she spies something almost Tookish awaken in his blue eyes and a little bit of the old Bilbo come over him, the Bilbo who didn’t give two licks about silver spoons and broken plates, and she grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen daffodils can bloom for up to six months. Cassia's daffodil bed is the envy of every other daffodil grower in the Shire. Hamfast Gamgee has a lot to do with it.


	4. The Journey Begins

Cassia closes her bedroom door behind her and sets about packing and putting out some travelling clothes to the sound of the dwarves singing. Her plan is simple: she needs to wake before the dwarves, sign her contract, and con her way into the Company. Easy.

It's late now, too late to climb into bed, so she sits down on her armchair, cracks open a book of dwarven fairy tales she bought from a caravan last spring, and tries not to fall asleep.

The story she's reading is a familiar one, about a prince with hair of gold. Before today, she'd always imagined said prince to be rather hobbit-like in appearance, but now he looks like the one in her living room. She shuts her book. That's no good. It won't do to have a crush on one of her travelling companions. Cassia chews on her thumbnail and draws her knees up to her chest. But he is rather nice. She's never kissed anyone with a beard before and wonders what it would feel like. 

* * *

 

Cassia awakens in early morning to birds singing softly and the front door closing with a slam. The sun is just starting to peek over the horizon and she peeks out her window to watch Fili, taking up the end of the line of dwarves, shut the front gate. She swears softly and dresses quickly, arranging pillows under her blankets to buy her time if Bilbo comes to investigate. She hurries to her bedroom door, and then pauses, eyeing the sling on her bedside table. It's a toy, really, something her cousin Paladin made her so he could have someone to beat in stone throwing contests (not that he ever did beat her). After a moment of indecision, she snatches it up and stuffs it in the deep pockets of her skirt. It may come in handy. 

The dwarves have left piles of dirty dishes from what must have been a hurried but hearty breakfast piled all over the kitchen, and the two contracts and a note (written on Bilbo’s best note paper) on the mantelpiece.

Cassia fetches the note down and reads it. It thanks her and Bilbo for their hospitality and arranges to meet at the Green Dragon Inn in Bywater at eleven a.m. sharp after the dwarves gather amenities for their travels. Cassia checks the clock. Seven a.m.

 She packs what little food the dwarves didn't eat in her shoulder bag, signs her own contract with a flourish (and Bilbo’s best pen), tucks her book of dwarven fairy tales into her pack and hurries out the door. 

* * *

 

Cassia is trotting through the main square of Hobbiton, already rather busy, when someone calls her name. She pauses and turns around. Her dear friend, Delphinia Greenholm, comes up, a basket on one arm.

"Oh, hello, Phinney," Cassia says with a grin. 

"Where are you going?" Her friend asks.

"I'm going on an adventure."

Delphinia raises an eyebrow. “Again?”

“A  _ real _ adventure,” Cassia declares, “Out of the Shire this time.”

“What? On your own?”

“Of course not, Phin, I’m meeting a company of dwarves at the Green Dragon at eleven. And Bilbo is coming as well. And a wizard.”

Delphinia sniffs like she has opinions on wizards she’s much too polite to say aloud. “I’m not sure about this, Cassia. It sounds dangerous.”

“Well, of course it’s going to be dangerous!” She laughs, “That’s the  _ point _ ! Besides, if you’re so worried, why don’t you come along?”

He friend sighs, something almost wistful in her green eyes. “You know I can’t do that, I’ve my mother to think of.”

Cassia winces, abruptly remembering the other girl’s sickly mother. “Oh, Phin, of course you’re right. I’m sorry. How is she?”

“She was up all night with a cough, and complaining of her joints. I’ve just had to run down to Matron Goodbody’s for painkillers.”

“Oh, how awful! Tell her I said hello, won’t you?”

“Of course. She wants to know when you’ll settle down and find a nice lad to marry, you know.”

Cassia laughs. “What, like you did?”

Delphinia snorts. “I’m too busy to get married.”

“You’re married to your work.”

“Yes, but being a midwife can’t get you babies, much to Mama’s chagrin.”

“Well,” Cassia says, “technically…”

Her friend smacks her with her basket and Cassia skips out of the way, cackling. “I’m not wrong!”

“Ugh, I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“Unfortunately. Have you had breakfast?”

“I was planning to get some at the Green Dragon, why?”

Delphinia pulls a wrapped muffin from her basket. “Because I doubt dwarves are civilized enough to eat seven meals a day. Here, Matron Goodbody gave me a baker’s dozen. Eat up.”

Cassia takes the confection gratefully. “Don’t worry, I’ll remember to eat all my meals and go to bed on time and all that.”

“No you won’t.”

“I’ll try!”

“Sure. Make sure you come back, all right? I don’t know what I’d do if you died.”

Cassia throws her arms around Delphinia for a tight hug. “Of course I will, Phin, and I’ll have all sorts of stories to tell you, too.”

“I’ll count on it. You’d best get going. Be safe.”

“All right. I’ll see you later.” Cassia kisses her friend’s freckled cheek and hurries off with a wave. 

She makes the Green Dragon with plenty of time to spare and orders a hearty breakfast as she waits for the dwarves, tucking her muffin from Delphinia in her pocket for later. She’s sipping her tea comfortably when Fili and Kili burst in. They spot her immediately and wave excitedly, hurrying over and sit down across from her. 

“Hello,” She says brightly, pushing a plate of muffins towards them. “Muffin?”

“Thanks,” Kili says, taking two and stuffing his face. “‘M starving. Are you coming along with us?”

“Yes,” She says.

“I thought we’d agreed to see each other again  _ after _ the adventure,” Fili teases her. 

“So we did,” She replies, “But I couldn’t pass up on this opportunity. It’s the first time anyone’s  _ wanted _ me to adventure.”

Kili laughs at that. "Are you a troublemaker?" He asks. She beams at him.

"You could say that."

He grins back. "Me and you are going to be great friends," he tells her. "I can tell."

"I'd like that," Cassia says. 

Fili nods, working on his second muffin. 

“D’you think your brother’ll come, too?” Kili asks, grabbing another muffin.

“I’m sure he will,” she replies. “Do you want to order something more substantial than muffins?” 

There’s a thump under the table that must be Fili kicking his brother. Kili shakes his head. “No. We had a big breakfast. Oh, look! There’s Ori and his brothers. Over here!”

Pretty soon, almost the whole company is squeezed around Cassia’s table, and they end up ordering a light meal as she finishes her tea. Balin looks over Cassia’s signed contract and declares it sound, as well.

“Alright then,” Thorin says, wiping his mouth and pushing back from the table, “Everyone get your ponies, Fili, show Miss Baggins to hers and make sure she knows how to care for her. We leave at 11 on the dot.”

“What about Bilbo?” Cassia asks. 

“If he’s not here in 15 minutes, we will assume he isn’t coming,” The dwarf informs her. 

“He’ll come,” Cassia assures him. 

Fili introduces Cassia to the smallest pony of their 16, a chestnut mare with a white blaze, just the right side for her, and she is immediately smitten. “Oh,” she coos, stroking the pony’s velvety nose, “what’s her name?”

“I don’t think she’s got one,” Fili says, checking the straps of the saddle.

“Well, that’s hardly fair. I’ll call her Trixie. Is that good with you, sweetie?” The pony whickers. Cassia nods. “Good.”

“Y’know she can’t understand you, right?” Kili asks, leading his pony past. Cassia scoffs. 

“Of course she can. We’re friends, aren’t we, Trix?” The pony blinks. “She said yes.”

Fili laughs softly. “Alright, come here and try these stirrups,” he says, and she comes over. He shows her how to lengthen and shorten them and how to check the girth and throat latch and put in the bit and lots of other things Cassia promptly forgets.

“You’ll get it eventually,” he says, helping her mount up. 

“I hope,” she says.

That’s about when Bilbo comes dashing up at exactly eleven o’clock. He’s explaining between pants that he only saw the dwarves’ note about fifteen minutes ago. He does look rather frazzled as Kili leads the other small pony over for him to get up on.

“Hello, Bilbo,” Cassia says with a grin. Bilbo glares. 

“What,” he says, “are you doing here?”

“Going on an adventure,” she explains.

“No you aren’t,” Bilbo hisses. “Go home right now!”

“I won’t! I already signed my contract! It’s legally binding.”

Bilbo opens his mouth, meaning to say more, then closes it, because he can’t really argue with that. “You’re a menace,” he says finally, resigned. Cassia sticks her tongue out at him. 

* * *

The adventure starts off very merrily indeed, on a fine spring day just before May, and as the days pass, even Bilbo starts to enjoy himself. They’re travelling through Hobbit country, green beautiful, with gentle rolling hills, and even the occasional inn for them to stay at. As the days passed, so did the lands, changing slowly but steadily, full of strange people telling strange stories, and the farms and inns became less and less and the roads worse and worse until it was but a faint, rocky, muddy trail and there were no people around at all but the Company. The Lone-lands, these parts were called. The weather, which had been as fine as May can be, takes a quite sudden turn for the worse, just before June, becoming gloomy, cold and wet, and everyone was quite soaked through. 

Cassia can hear her brother grumbling and cursing behind her and she feels rather like doing some of that herself. All day it had been raining and everyone was much too grumpy to talk, let alone sing or tell stories. It’s beginning to get dark as well, and Thorin leads them down into a deep valley with a river at the bottom. “We’ll camp on the other side,” he calls back.

There’s no bridge, just a section of river shallower than the rest to ford. Cassia peers at the rushing water, swollen with rain, with trepidation. The ponies do not like the idea of crossing the river at all, so Thorin, still insistent on crossing that night, orders everyone to get off and lead their mounts across. 

“Will you need help crossing?” Fili asks, as Cassia climbs down from her pony.

“What, the river?”

“Yes. Kili or I could carry you.”

“No,” Cassia shakes her head, determined not to be a burden. “I can do it on my own.”

“Are you sure?” Kili queries, eying the water. “We don’t know how deep it’ll be, especially in the middle.”

“I’m sure,” she insists, “I can do it.”

“Well,” Fili says, somewhat reluctantly. “If you’re really sure…” Cassia nods, checking the straps on her pony’s saddle. 

The fording isn’t that deep, luckily, it only reaches the middle of her chest. It’s going pretty well, Cassia holding tight to the pony’s saddle and Kili carefully leading it, Fili just behind her. Then, the pony stumbles, and the water, which has been fighting them this entire time, grabs them. Kili and Cassia don’t have a chance to let go of the pony.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. That doesn’t happen to Cassia. She doesn’t have  _ time _ to think. She manages to let go if the pony and fights to get her feet underneath her. The terrifying thing is that if she could just figure out which way was up, she could probably touch the bottom of the riverbed. In theory. But the water is moving too fast and she’s just a leaf in the wind. Her lungs are burning by this time, and suddenly, there’s cold air on her face, and she gasps, looking around frantically. She catches sight of the pony and Kili, both of them seeming to be faring far better than she. Above the roar of the water, she hears faint shounting, and then something slams into the back of her head, sending her under. The last thing Cassia remembers is someone on grabbing her around the waist.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all i procrastinated so long on this chapter. I ended it sooner than I intended but I was getting bored with it so I just decided to finish it. so. hope you all like it and thanks so much for all your nice kudos and comments, I read them all and they make me so happy :)  
> ps: Delphinia is IMPORTANT she will return..........
> 
> Chapter under revision


	5. A Difference in Culture

_ “Cassia!” _

_ “Come on, wake up!” _

_ “Come on, lass, breathe!”  _

“Cassia!” Something thumps hard against her chest and she gasps, choking. Strong arms flip her over and she vomits up what feels like an entire gallon of water into the mud. As she throws up, feeling seeps back into her body. She’s  _ freezing _ , her clothes soaked through, her throat and nose are burning and her head aches furiously.

“Are you all right?” Bilbo asks, pushing her sodden curls off her forehead. Cassia shakes her head.

“My head hurts,” she whimpers.

“Aye,” Thorin says, for he had been the one to wake her up, “You’ve a nasty bump. I’ll have Oin take a look at it.”

Bilbo pulls Cassia into his arms as Thorin leaves. “I hit my head when I went under,” Cassia tells him as he drapes a blessedly dry blanket around her shoulders.

“Ah,” he replies, “You’re lucky Fili fished you out.”

“He did?”

“Yes. Nearly drowned himself in the process. He went right back in for Kili after he got you out.”

“Oh no!” Cassia gasps, sitting up and throwing her blanket off. “Kili! Is he..?”

“The lads are fine,” Oin assures her, trundling over with his medical bag. “Wet, and significantly ruffled, but in much better shape than you.”

“Oh, good,” she sighs, peering over. Fili and Kili are sitting next to each other, appearing just as the medic said, but alive. Thorin is standing over them, clearly scolding them, and they have slightly sullen looks on their faces. Oin pokes at the bump on the back of Cassia’s head, and she winces. 

“Ouch!”

“Sorry, lass,” he says, “how do you feel? Any dizziness or nausea? Any part of your body tingling or feeling unusually week?”

Cassia shakes her head. “I mean, my head aches something awful, but I don’t feel dizzy, really.”

“Good, good. You don’t have a brain injury, then. Dry off and get warm. You should be fine.”

Cassia pulls the blanket she had thrown off back up around her shoulders, and moves closer to the fire Bifur has started. Thorin is still scolding Fili and Kili just beyond her.

“...foolish and irresponsible!” he’s saying, “you are old enough to know better, and when I allowed you to come on this quest I told you I expected a certain amount of level-headedness and responsibility!”

“But—” Fili starts.

Thorin talks right over him. “What would your mother say, if you didn’t come home safe? I promised to protect you and do you really want to leave her alone?”

“Did you just expect me to leave them to drown?!” Fili cries.

“Of course not! But I expect you think before you act! Don't be impulsive! For Mahal’s sake, lad! I’d expect something like this from your brother, but not from you! You’re the elder! You’re supposed to look out for him, but not at risk to yourself, you hear me?”

Kili opens his mouth, probably to protest being deemed the irresponsible one, when Cassia speaks up.

"I'm sorry," she says. Thorin turns and blinks at her. 

"For what?"

"It's my fault. I should have been more careful at the river, but I wasn't, and we lost all that food and—!"

The dwarf silences her with a hand on her shoulder. "Lass," he says seriously, "it wasn't your fault."

"But—!"

"Don't trouble yourself over it. Mistakes were made, they will not be made again."

Cassia blinks up at him, and then nods. "Oh, I, uh… thank you?"

Thorin nods and pats her shoulder once, sighing and turning back to his nephews. “I’ve been too hard on you. Fili, what you did was very brave, but next time, wait for help, understand? And Kili, be a little more careful, understand?”

The two of them nod. “Yes, uncle.”

“Good.” The older dwarf then moves on to discuss something with Balin. Cassia sits down next to Fili.

"I think," Kili says, "that's the closest Uncle's ever got to admitting something was his fault."

"Huh?" Bilbo asks, coming over to the three of them with bowls of stew.

"That was definitely Thorin-speak for 'this was my fault, I'm glad you didn't die because of it'," Fili says.

"You mean he doesn't blame me?" Cassia asks. "That's a relief."

"It's probably cuz you're a girl," Kili says. 

"What's that mean?"

"That's gotta be why he went easy on you," he continues, "because I can't think of anything else."

"Or I charmed him with my beauty," Cassia laughs.

Kili makes a face. "Eugh. He's so old though."

She laughs again. "I was joking."

 

The next few days pass without incident. One night Thorin sends Fili, Kili, and Cassia off to get firewood.

"How are you feeling?" Fili asks Cassia, falling back to walk beside her. She grins at him.

"I'm great!" she says. 

"Really?"

"Yes!" She beams at him. "I've been having the most fun I've had in forever! I'm seeing things I've never seen, experiencing things I've never experienced!"

"You almost drowned," he says.

"Only once."

Fili chuckles softly at that, then sobers, looking her in the eye. Cassia feels a little uncomfortable under his gaze and turns away. "You know," he says gently, "it's all right to not be all right."

She forces out a laugh. "Who said anything about not being all right? I'm perfectly fine!" She pats his arm. "Truly, Fili, you needn't worry."

With that, she trots off, calling for Kili. In truth, though, Cassia isn't fine at all, but she'd never tell anyone. Her companions don't need to know that sometimes she wakes up gasping from drowning in her dreams. 

"I bet I can gather more firewood than you, Kili!" She shouts. 

"No way!" He calls. "I'll beat you!"

Cassia sprints off. "Five minutes, we meet back here! Whoever has more wood wins!"

 

Cassia kind of, sort of wants to die. She has no idea how she gets into these kinds of predicaments, but her she is… in one. Somehow, the end of her braid slipped out of it’s updo and is now firmly tangled in a thorny bush. 

“Hey, Cassia!” Kili calls, “Where’d you go?”

“Cassia?” Fili shouts.

“I’m over here,” She cries to them. There’s the crunching of heavy dwarven boots over the forest floor and then their shadows fall over her.

"What are you doing?" Kili asks. Cassia glares. 

"You can't laugh," she says.

"Huh?"

"Just promise not to laugh!"

"All right! We promise, right Fee?"

"Aye."

Cassia looks away the best she can, the movement making her wince as it pulls on her hair. "I'm stuck," she says quietly.

"What do you mean, 'stuck'?" Kili asks.

"I mean I'm stuck!!!" She shrieks. "My hair is stuck in this bush and I can't get out!!!" Fili and Kili step back, startled. Then they snort.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"I'm not!" Fili insists, biting his bottom lip in an effort to keep himself quiet.

"Yes, you are!" She wails. "I can tell!" Kili falls over cackling, making no effort to stifle his laughter. "Shut up, Kili! It’s not funny!”

“Yes it is!” he insists, “It’s hilarious!”

“No, it’s not!”

“It is a little,” Fili says. “How did you get in this situation, anyway?”

“None of your business!” she snaps, “Just get me out!”

Kili can barely stand, he’s laughing so hard, so Fili steps up to help Cassia. He gives her braid a little tug, and she yelps. 

“Don’t  _ pull _ it!”

“Do you want to stay stuck forever?”

“Just be gentle, you monster!”

“Don’t be rude! Mahal’s beard, is this how you treat everyone who tries to help you?”

“Only the ones who laugh at me. Shut UP, Kili!!!”

Fili grumbles and crouches down so he has a better view, being a little more gentle as he works to untangle the burrs and sticks from her curls. “I think you may be more trouble than you’re worth,” he mumbles. Cassia smacks him. “Ow.”

“I can hear you, you know.” There’s a snapping noise, and some of the pressure on Cassia’s head lets up. “Oh! You got it!”

“Almost, just… a little… more…” There’s a bit more crackling and suddenly Cassia is free. She sits up with a whoop. 

“Freedom!” She crows, running a hand over her head. Burrs stick her fingers. “Well, mostly.”

Fili tugs at one of them, and she squeaks. “Ouch! Be careful!”

“Sorry,” he says. “I think you’ll need a comb to get out the rest.”

Kili, who had finally been calming down, takes one look at Cassia’s hair and bursts out laughing again. “You look like you’ve got a bird’s nest on your head!” 

Cassia leaps to her feet and lunges at him, snatching up a handful of burrs. “Get over here and see how you like it!”

Kili shrieks and dashes away, with Cassia in hot pursuit. Fili sighs and trots after them. 

Kili trips over a rock and tumbles head over heels back into the campsite and Cassia pounces on his back, holding him down and shoving her handful of burrs into his already tangled hair. “Take that!”

“Ack! How could you?!”

“Payback!”

“You’re a terror!”

“No more than you are!”

“Uh,” Bilbo says, the first to speak up. “What’s going on?”

“Revenge,” Cassia says, standing up and brushing off her skirts. “Well deserved revenge.”

“That’s a lot of burrs in your hair, lass,” Bofur says. Cassia blushes, remembering the state of her curls. 

“There was an incident with a bush,” Fili explains for her, dumping an armful of kindling next to the fire. “Here, I got this.”

“Oh,” Kili says, “I forgot about the firewood.”

“Me, too,” Cassia says, opening her pack and digging around in it.

“Clearly,” Thorin says drily. 

“Sorry,” She tells him sheepishly, pulling out a wooden comb and plopping down, starting to work the burrs and sticks out of her curls.  

  
  


“Oh, that is  _ it _ !”Cassia shrieks, leaping to her feet and throwing her comb down. Fili, who had been dozing next to her, nearly jumps out of his skin, sending his pipe flying with a flurry of choking coughs. The other dwarves startle at the commotion, turning to stare at them. 

“What?!” he chokes, eyes watering, “What’s wrong?”

“I give up!” she cries, stomping over to her pack and opening it with a jerk. 

“You’ve still got burrs in your hair, though,” Kili says, patting his brother on the back. Fili had helped him get the debris out of his hair a while ago.

“I know! That’s what I’ve given up on!” Cassia says, dumping all of her belongings out onto her bedroll and digging through them.”

“So…” Fili says, shaking off Kili, “You’re just going to live with burrs in your hair for the rest of your life?”

“Of course not,” Cassia says, shaking out one of her skirts and tossing it aside. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You said you were giving up, though,” Kili reminds her.

“I know, I know… AHA!” She lets out a triumphant yell, holding aloft a pair of scissors. 

“What’re you going to do with those?” Fili queries, settling back down to relight his pipe. 

“I’m cutting my hair,” Cassia declares. There is an  _ instant _ uproar. 

“What?!” Fili splutters, dropping his lit pipe in his lap. “OW!”

“You can’t!” Kili cries, as his brother leaps up and shakes coals off his trousers.

“How could you say that?!” Ori, who had been watching that all go down, butts in. 

“Miss Baggins,” Thorin says gravely, “If you feel ashamed about the incident at the river, it was an accident that could happen to anyone.”

Cassia blinks at him. “I’m sorry?”

“Aye!” Bofur adds, “it wasn’t your fault we lost all the food. Accidents like that happen all the time when you’re travelling!”

“There’s no need to cut your hair over it!” Balin puts in.

“That’s not…” Cassia starts, “There’s burrs in it.”

“I told you not to laugh at her, Kili,” Fili scolds, punching his brother in the gut. “Now look what you’ve done! You’ve shamed her!”

“Ow! I didn’t mean to!”

“Kili,” Thorin says, “Do you have something to do with this?”

“Of course not! Don’t blame me!”

“You teased her!” Fili says.

“So did you!”

Cassia is completely at a loss, looking around and blinking. Gandalf is no help at all, his eyes twinkling mirthfully, seeming quite content to let the craziness reign.

“I’m sorry,” Bilbo says, half shouting to be heard over the ruckus, “But what’s the problem?”

“She’s trying to cut her hair!” Kili cries, stuck in a headlock from his brother. 

“Aye!” Fili adds, “Tell her she can’t!”

“Oh,” Bilbo sighs, sitting back and relighting his pipe. “Is that all?”

“‘Is that all’!?” Dwalin roars, startling the hobbit quite badly and causing him to singe the end of his nose. “It’s her HAIR!”

“Yes…” Bilbo says slowly, rubbing the burnt appendage. “It most certainly is  _ her  _ hair. I don’t have any say in what she does with it.”

“But…” Fili starts, still holding Kili in a headlock.

“I’m beginning to think,” Cassia interrupts him, “That we have very different customs surrounding hair.” 

Fili is so shocked by this, he drops Kili, who lands in a heap in the dirt. “You mean for hobbits it’s not a disgrace to have your hair cut?”

“No? Why would it be?”

“Or your beard plucked?” Kili puts in, scrambling to his feet. 

“Kili, you don’t even have a beard,” she cries. He gasps, offended, and covers his scruffy chin.

“It’s coming in!”

“Hobbits don’t have any traditions surrounding beards because we don’t grow beards,” Bilbo says. 

“What?” Ori gasps, appalled. “None at all?”

“Of course not,” Bilbo sighs, “I’m fully grown and I haven’t got one and neither does any other hobbit.”

“Well,” Dwalin says, “We didn’t want to assume anything.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bilbo glares, looking almost fierce. 

“You don’t braid your loved one’s hair?” Kili asks, tugging on Cassia’s sleeve. “You don’t do First Braids? Or courting beads? Or Wedding braids?”

Cassia shakes him off, a little annoyed. “Of course not, Kili, I don’t even know what those things are.”

She stomps over to her brother and holds out the scissors. “Now that we’ve established the differences in our cultures concerning hair, Bilbo will you  _ please _ cut these burrs out? They pinch!”

Her brother takes the scissors. “Sit down then. How short do you want it?”

“Just to my shoulders,” She replies, “Any shorter and I might give someone an aneurysm.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Bilbo asks, “You’ve been growing it out for a while.”

“I’m sure.” Cassia says. “I grew it out for a stupid reason anyway.”

.

The haircut turns out pretty nice regardless of the dwarves protestations, the ends of her curls just brushing the tops of her shoulders, with not a burr in it to be seen. Cassia quite likes it short like this. "Its so manageable," she sighs delightedly, tying it back in pigtails. "No more complicated updos for me, thanks."

The dwarves obviously don't know what to think about this development, those bold enough to stare doing so with wide eyes. 

"What?" She asks, glaring, "it's short now and theres nothing you can do about it, so stop staring!"

"I think it looks nice," Fili says reassuringly. 

She gives him a wide smile. "Thank you, Fili."

He clears his throat and looks away, his ears turning red. "Aye," he mumbles, "no problem."

Kili punches him in the shoulder, kind of out of the blue, and the two of them start arguing, drawing the Company's attention away from Cassia.

"Huh," Bilbo says.

"What?" she asks, fiddling with the ends of her hair.

"Nothing," he replies. "You look nice. It's been a while since you've had your hair this short. Brings back old times."

"Aw, thanks."

"Hey," Kili says, coming over and plopping down beside her on her log, holding a bowl of soup. "You mean you used to have hair this short?"

"Aye, when I was a child." She eyes the soup. "That for me? And weren't you just fighting with Fili?"

"Get your own," Kili says, holding his food away from her. 

"You owe me, though."

"I certainly do not!"

"You do! For teasing me!"

"Nuh-uh! Back off!"

"Don't try and fight him for that," Fili interrupts them, coming up with two bowls. He hands one to Cassia. "Here."

"Ooh, thanks," she gasps as he sits down on her other side. "You're my favorite dwarf."

He beams at her. "Really? Or are you joking?"

"I'm serious. You're the best, Fili."

"What am I then?" Kili asks, "chopped liver?"

Cassia sticks her tongue out at him.

"Is that a yes."

"Yes," she mumbles through a full mouth. 

"Rude," Kili sighs. 

She laughs and loops one arm through Fili's, leaning her head against his shoulder. 

He grins down at her. "Is it odd for me to ask why you grew your hair out? You said it was for a stupid reason."

Cassia blushes. "It's a little embarrassing, to be honest."

"You don't have to tell me," Fili says. 

"No," Kili interjects. "I wanna know why. Tell us!"

"Ugh," she grumbles, "fine, fine, but you can't tease me like last time, promise?"

"Promise," Fili says.

"Aye, we promise."

Cassia takes another bite of her soup. "I grew it out for a lad," she mumbles.

"No you didn't," Kili says."

"I'm serious!"

The two brothers stare at her, mouths half open in surprise. Cassia focuses on her food. "Well," Kili says. "What happened?!"

"Does it matter?"

"It matters! I want to know."

She sighs. "I wanted to get his attention, but he said he didn't like girls… like me."

"Like you?"

"Who went on adventures and caused trouble and had short hair. Can we stop talking about this?"

"So you grew your hair out to get his attention?"

"Yes! It was stupid!"

 "Did it work?" Kili presses, "did it?"

"Yes," she mumbles, putting her head on her knees. "I grew out my hair and stopped causing trouble and acted like a proper hobbit lass and it worked and he courted me for awhile. And then I caught him kissing one of my friends behind the Green Dragon Inn."

"What?!" Kili splutters, indignant for her sake. "What a bastard!"

Cassia let's out a wry laugh. "Aye. He is."

Fili puts his hand on her back. "Who was it?" He asks softly.

Cassia turns and frowns at him. His blue eyes are blazing and he looks legitimately angry. "Fili…"

"What's his name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"So I can punch him the next time I'm in the Shire."

Cassia grabs his arm. "No! Fili, you are much stronger than him! You might kill him!"

He scoffs. "It's not like it would be a big loss to the world."

"I'll help him!" Kili puts in. 

"No! The two of you are  _ not _ allowed to try and kill my ex beau."

"How about cut off his hair?" Fili asks.

"No!" 

"What are you three talking about?" Bilbo asks, tuning back into their conversation. (He had been discussing types of pipeweed with Bofur.)

"What's her ex beau's name?" Kili asks.

"Who? Allen Proudfoot?" 

"Aha!" Fili says. "We have a  name!"

"No! Bilbo, how could you?!"

"I'm pretty sure your fall out with him was pretty much a public affair after you sent geese after him."

"Geese?!" Kili splutters.

Cassia ducks her head between her knees, hiding her face in her skirt. Fili pats her back.

"Did you die?" He asks.

"Wait, wait!" Kili says, "you can't say she sent geese after him and then not expand on that!"

"Can I tell the story?" Bilbo asks. Cassia stands. 

"Fine, but I'm not going to be here. Goodbye."

She walks off into the trees as Bilbo begins the story. 

The subject of Allen is still definitely a sore spot for her, maybe in a little while, she'll find it funny, but right now, only three months later, it still hurts. Because he broke her heart. She leans against a large boulder and tries to think of literally anything else.

There's a crack of a breaking stick behind her and she jumps, whirling around. Fili is frozen mid-step.

"Where you sneaking up on me?" She blurts just as he says,

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you."

They pause, staring at each other, and then laugh together. 

"I came out here to check on you," Fili says, walking closer to her.

"You didn't want to hear how I sent a flock of geese after my ex lover?"

"Mm, you've heard one story about lasses sending waterfowl after their exes, you heard them all."

Cassia lets out a laugh. "You've heard other stories like that?"

He leans against the boulder beside her. "Aye. How are you anyway?"

"I've been better."

"A bit of a rough week for you, huh?"

"Mhmm."

"Do you need a hug?"

Cassia looks up at him. "I wouldn't mind."

She steps into his arms and he gives her a tight squeeze, resting his chin atop her head.

"If you want," he mumbles, "I'll still fight him for you."

"I know you will. But you don't have to." She pulls back just enough that she can see his face, reaching up to tug lightly at one of his moustache braids. "It's been almost three months."

Fili splutters. "Three months?! Now I get why you ran away with us!"

"Please don't tell Kili. He'll tease me forever," Cassia begs.

"My lips are sealed."

A strange noise comes from further in the woods and Fili stiffens.

"What?"

"Can we go back to the others?" He asks.

Cassia frowns at him. "Is something wrong?"

"Let's just go back," he says, walking back towards the others. She trots after him, grabbing his hand. 

"You know, if I was a crueler person, I'd be teasing you about this," she says.

"I could leave you out here to the mercy of whatever's out there in the dark," Fili tells her.

Cassia sticks her tongue out at him. "No, you wouldn't. You're too nice."

He rolls his eyes. "I hate you."

"No, you don't."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your comments! They give me so much life and I read them all the time, no joke. This chapter is 3k and I'm so proud of me.


	6. Trolls!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is an encounter with trolls

They stop for the night at what appears to be an abandoned farm. Their resident wizard doesn’t seem too happy about this, but Thorin insists.

“Where's he off to?” Cassia asks, watching with wide eyes as Gandalf storms past. 

“Who knows,” Kili replies, patting one of the ponies on the nose. 

“I suspect your uncle did something.” 

Kili snorts, ducking behind the ponies to guffaw. “You're probably right.”

“He'd be a very nice person if it wasn't for… everything he does,” Cassia continues. “Like, I get being bitter, but like… let it go, you know?”

Kili shakes his head at her quietly, but she doesn't notice. “He's got such a stick up his ass. Mayhaps it's time to pull it out. And… he's standing behind me, isn't he?”

“No,” Fili says, “just me.” 

Cassia lets out a relieved sigh. “Oh, good.”

“Weren't you just yesterday getting along with Thorin?” The older dwarf brother teases.

“You can get along with someone and still see when they’re being a gigantic ass,” She says, tossing her hair. “Anyway, what do you think happened to whoever lived here?”

“Probably got killed by orcs,” Kili says nonchalantly. Cassia stares at him, wide-eyed.

“Wait, really?”

“Oh, aye,” he says lowly and gravely. An odd noise comes from off in the distant darkness, like a high-pitched laugh or howl. Cassia jumps. 

“What was that?”

“Orcs,” Kili tells her.

“Are you pulling my leg? Because it’s not funny, Kili!”

“I’d never joke about this, right Fili?”

“Right,” Fili says, right next to her ear. Cassia gasps. “Throat-cutters, there’ll be dozens of them out there.”

“They strike in the wee small hours,” Kili continues. “Quick and quiet. No screams. Just lots of blood.”

The two of them chuckle then. The odd noises sound again and Cassia grabs Fili’s arm. “Please tell me you’re joking, Fili. It’s not funny!”

He looks down at her. “Cassia, we’re just teasing. Those are only coyotes.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Or are they?” Kili says, “could be wargs. Hunting some soft, tasty hobbit to eat!”

“Kili!” Cassia gasps, “ _ Don’t _ ! I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or not!”

The lads laugh at her fright.

“You think that’s funny?” Thorin snaps, overhearing their conversation. “You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?”

Fili and Kili fidget, looking everywhere but at their uncle. 

“We didn’t mean anything by it,” Kili mumbles. “We were just teasing.”

“We didn’t think—" Fili starts.

“Clearly,” Thorin interrupts him. “The two of you finish getting the ponies ready for the night and keep an eye on them. Ms. Baggins, go help Bombur.” 

When darkness falls, Thorin sends Cassia to bring food to Fili and Kili. 

She finds the two of them lounging against a fallen log, smoking and bickering about nothing in particular. 

“I thought you two were supposed to be watching the ponies,” she says, sliding over the log to settle down between them. 

“We are,” Kili says, eyeing the bowls of stew in her hands. “Those for us?”

“Yes.” She hands them over. “It looks to me like you two are smoking.”

They snuff out their pipes. “We can do both,” Fili says.

“If you say so,” she replies.

Kili laughs and takes a bite. Then frowns.

“What?” Cassia asks.

“This is better than usual,” he says, poking it suspiciously with his spoon.

“It’s it?” Fili queries, taking a bite himself. His eyes widen. “Oh, it’s  _ much _ better.” He looks at Cassia. “Did Bombur finally learn how to cook?”

“Hey now,” she chides, “he’s a fine cook. He has limited resources!”

“Maybe so,” Kili says, “But I  _ know _ his cooking. This isn’t it.”

Fili nods in agreement, scarfing down his food. 

“Slow down,” Cassia tells him, concerned. “You’ll choke!”

He does so, but almost imperceptibly. 

“Who made this?” Kili says, getting back to eating.

“I did,” She tells them.

They stare at her in silence. Fili swallows. 

“You are a goddess among lasses,” He blurts. She blushes. 

“What?!”

“I’m serious. You’re amazing!”

“Oh, stop. That’s your stomach talking!”

Fili shrugs, like that hardly matters.

"There's nothing better to Fili than a pretty lass who is also a phenomenal cook," Kili says, "however, I am going to beat him to the punch. Cassia, will you marry me? And cook for me for the rest of my life?"

Cassia bursts out laughing. "What?!" She giggles.

"I'm serious!" Kili insists, very clearly joking.

"Well," Cassia snickers, "I don't know! What merits do you have that would make you a good husband?"

"Merits, huh? I've plenty of those!"

"Plenty? Well, what are they?"

"Well, for one, I am technically a prince. And when this quest succeeds, I will be VERY rich. I'm also quite skilled in many forms of weaponry, talented on the violin, and," he winks at her, "rather skilled in bed."

Cassia laughs harder. "Ew, Kili, I didn't need to know that!"

"You asked me for my merits and I gave them to you!" He scarfs down the rest of his meal. "So, will you accept my proposal?"

Cassia taps her chin, thinking. "It depends."

"On what?"

She jumps to her feet. "You see that tree?" She points toward a large oak tree some 40 paces away.

"Aye," Kili says. "What about it?"

"And you see that knot in the trunk?"

"The big one or the little one."

"The big one."

"Aye, I see it."

"If you can hit it from here with your bow, then I'll accept your suit."

Kili scoffs and climbs to his feet. "I hope you have a pretty dress in mind, lass, because you'll be wearing it come spring."

" _ If _ you succeed."

"You doubt me?"

Cassia just smiles at him. She knows his indignation at her doubt throw his aim off, even if dwarves can see incredibly well in the dark. But, to her utter surprise, Kili knocks an arrow, stands tall, aims, and lets fly. It hits its target.

"Oh my!" Cassia gasps. "Good job, Kili!"

Kili smirks at her, bowing and holding his hand out to her. "Like I said, I hope you have a dress in mind."

Cassia covers her mouth with one hand and takes his with the other, giggling harder. "I suppose there are worse people to marry!"

Just then, there is the crack of splitting wood, and they both jump, turning. Fili is standing where Kili was, one of his throwing axes in his hand.  

"I think I won," he says. 

"What?" Kili and Cassia ask. Fili smirks and his hand flashes out. They whip their heads around to watch the axe bury itself on the smaller knot in the tree trunk. Kili's arrow is split perfectly down the middle by a second axe. 

Cassia gasps. "Amazing! Fili that was amazing! Sorry, Kili, I'm unmarrying you."

"What?!"

She laughs and drops his hand, taking Fili's instead. "I'm sorry, but he beat you! It's only fair!"

"No one said it was a competition! Just if I hit the target! Which I did."

"She said I won," Fili says solemnly. "Sorry Kili. If you want you can be part of the wedding party."

Cassia laughs and Kili stomps over to retrieve his brother's axes. "This is unfair!" he shouts, "he had the advantage! Oh, serious, Fili, this was a perfectly good arrow!"

His brother shrugs nonchalantly. "I'll make you a new one."

"A new one?! The fletching on this one is completely ruined! It can't be reused! And the head is buried in this tree! Why do you always have to show me up?"

"Because I'm the big brother, of course. I have to. It's part of the rules."

Kili grumbles and pulls out one of his own knives, trying to dig the arrow head out of the trunk.

"Can you show me how to throw knives like that?" Cassia asks, pulling at Fili's arm.

He frowns somewhat reluctantly, bending to put his axes back into the sheaths in his boots. 

"I dunno. Do you have any experience with knives?"

"I mean, I cook often."

"What does that have to do with anything?" He queries, fastening the last buckle and looking up at her.

"You use knives when you cook!"

Fili blows out a long breath. "Just say you have no experience. At all."

"Well…"

"You don't," he says, patting her shoulder. "But that doesn't mean you can't learn."

"Really? You mean you'll teach me how to throw knives like you?"

"Uh…" Fili says. "Eventually."

"Oh, boo! I want to learn now!"

"No one else wants that!" Kili calls. "You'd be putting out eyes left and right!"

"Nobody asked you!" She calls back.

"He's right," Fili says, pulling out a knife from one of his wrist braces. "These aren't toys. They're tools. And you or someone else can get seriously hurt if you aren't careful."

"I  _ know _ ," Cassia says impatiently.

"I know you know," Fili replies gently. "I'm just reminding you. Even a master can get careless at times. Mahal knows I've cut myself with my own blades."

"Are you calling yourself a master?" She teases.

Fili rolls his eyes, holding the the hilt of one of his knives towards her. "That's neither here nor there. Here. Hold this."

Cassia takes it, holding it a bit awkwardly. "You know," she says, "I don't really want to learn how to fight. I just want to learn how to throw knives."

"So you've said," Fili says, adjusting her grip. "How does that feel? Comfortable?"

"Feels fine to me."

"Good. And I said, you can't just learn how to throw knives without at least the basics."

She huffs.

"Don't huff at me," he says, "you asked!"

He takes her elbow. "Now, knife fighting isn't about fairness, it's about speed. If anyone tries to grab you, stab in an upward motion and use all your strength. Try to get under the ribs.”  He mimes the action. "You have to move quickly to get under their defense."

“What if they're wearing mail or something?”

“Go for the jambags,” Kili calls. He trots over having dug his arrowhead out. Fili shoots him a look. “What?”

The older brother shakes his head. “I wouldn't have said it like that but… yes, go for the jambags.”

Cassia nods. “Stab under the ribs or kick 'em in the balls. Seems easy enough.”

Kili snorts. Fili sighs. 

“Wait. What if they don't have balls? What if it's a lady orc.”

“ _ Are _ there lady orcs?” Kili asks, sounding a little horrified.

“Where would orc babies come from, then?” Cassia shoots back.

“I don't know, I always assumed they just sort of… spawned.”

“We're getting off track,” Fili says.

“Orcs fuck,” Cassia replies.

“I don't like that,” Fili mutters, turning a little green. Cassia laughs and starts parading around, Kili on her heels. 

“Orcs fuck! Orcs fuck! Orcs fuck! Orcs fuck! Orcs fuck!” They chant with inordinate glee. 

“Please for the love of Mahal,” Fili groans, trying not to think about orcs fucking, “stop talking.” 

Cassia grabs his arm. “Why are you so reluctant to accept the truth, Fili?”

Kili grabs his other arm. “Yeah, why?”

The hobbit begins her chant again. “Orcs fuck! Orcs fuck! Orcs fu— hey wait a tick.” 

“What?” Fili says.

“I know I’ve never been the best at arithmetic, but didn’t we have sixteen ponies?”

“Yes?” 

“We're missing two.”

“Uncle's gonna kill us all.”

The three of them hurry toward the ponies to take stock of the situation.

“Daisy and Bungo are missing,” Kili says.

“Well that's… not good…” Cassia says, scurrying after them. “That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?”

Fili shakes his head. “Let's not worry him.”

“You two just don’t want to get in trouble again, do you?” She asks. 

“Well, do  _ you _ want to tell him we lost the ponies while messing around?” Kili shoots back, “because I certainly don’t. You’ve escaped his ire so far, but you definitely came out here with the express purpose to distract us. You’ll be in as much trouble as Fili and I.”   
“I did not come out here to distract you two!” Cassia snaps, “I was bringing you supper!”

“Aye, and then distracted us with wanting to learn how to use a knife and the schematics of orc reproduction!”

“Oh, don’t you dare put this all on me! You’re just as much to blame, teasing me like that before! That’s what got you in this situation in the first place!”

“Shut up, you two,” Fili snaps. “We’re all to blame, now let's find those ponies before Thorin decides to kill us before we even see the mountain.”

“Look,” Cassia says, pointing. “There’s a light over there. I just noticed!”

“Aye,” Kili says. “Let’s go investigate.”

The three creep towards it, Fili pushing Cassia's head down. “Stay low,” he hisses.

The dwarf brothers creep forward again, Cassia on their heels, ducking behind a tree as a massive troll lumbers by, two of the ponies under his arms. Cassia gasps, annoyed, and almost pops up her head before Fili drags her back down behind the log. “He's got Myrtle and Minty!” She hisses. “What are they going to do to them?!”

“Eat them, most likely,” Fili murmurs. She gasps.

“We have to do something!”

The brothers turn to look at her, nodding. “Do you have a plan?” Kili asks.

Cassia nods. “I'll sneak over there, free the ponies and sneak back and the trolls will be none the wiser.”

Kili nods enthusiastically. “Brilliant!”

“That's a  _ terrible _ plan!” Fili cries.

“Do you have a better one?” She asks. 

“I…” he frowns. “...no.”

“Great! It's settled then! Give me a stabby thing!”

“What?”

“A stabby thing. A knife. Just in case!”

Fili grumbles and pulls a knife out of his coat. “I hate this.”

“It'll be fine!” Kili says. “Now, Cassia, these are mountains trolls, and they're slow and stupid. You're so tiny they won't even notice you're there!”

 Cassia nods in agreement.

“That's what I was thinking! And on the off chance that something  _ does _ happen, I'll just put up a fuss and you can come get me.”

 

Cassia's plan goes swimmingly. For the start of it. She sneaks past the trolls, quiet as a mouse and reaches the ponies with ease. They recognize her and start whinnying, their eyes rolling, tossing their manes. She does her best to hush them, but the ponies are in a tizzy and Cassia decides to go back and hide and wait for the others.

Suddenly a massive hand closes around her waist and she's lifted into the air. “Ah, bollocks,” she says. 

“Little rat!” The trolls roars, “trying to steal our food!”

Cassia stabs its hand with Fili's knife. “They aren't food!” She cries, “they're our ponies! And I'm no rat!”

The troll yelps and drops her, and she lays there on the ground for a moment, winded. The knife skitters out of her reach. One of the trolls pokes her with a stick. “What are you, then? An oversized squirrel?”

“I'm a burglar—hobbit! I'm a hobbit!”

“A burglarhobbit?”

Good gracious, these things  _ were _ stupid.

“Can we cook her?”

“We can try!!!”

Cassia yelps at that, rolling away from the troll's grasping hands and scrambling to her feet. She grabs the fallen knife and scampers towards the woods but a troll pops up in front of her, nudging her hard with a shovel-like spoon.

“She wouldn't make more than a mouthful, not when she's skinned and boned!”

She stumbles back and whirls, stopping short when a knife is pressed against her chest.

“Perhaps,” says the knife wielding troll, “there's more burglarhobbits round these parts.”

“Nope,” Cassia says, her voice high pitched with fright. “None but me. But I'm not very good to eat at all!”

“Why not?”

“I'm… uh… spicy! I'm awfully spicy. No good. No good at all.”

“I like spicy!”

_ Bollocks! _

“Yeah!”

“Me too!”

She scurries away.

“Grab her!” 

“She’s too fast!”

The big, knife troll grabs her round the legs and hoists her up. “Gotcha! Are there any more of you little fellows hiding around where they shouldn't?”

Cassia shakes her head. “Nope! Just me!”

“It’s lying!”

“No, I'm not!”

“Hold her toes over the fire! Make her squeal!”

Just then, a throwing axe appears to sprout front the troll's hand and he cries out, dropping her. Cassia squeezes her eyes shut, bracing for a hard landing, but miraculously, she lands easily in someone's arms.

“A dwarf!” One of the trolls shouts.

Cassia cracks one eye open and peers up into Fili's face. 

“Oh,” she says, rather breathlessly, “hello.”

“Hello,” he replies, "you said you were going to call for us if you got in trouble." 

"I was about to," she gasps, clinging to the front of his jacket as he sets her down, keeping one arm around her still, and threatening the trolls with his sword. “We'll be leaving now,” he tells them.

“No you won't!” The biggest troll says lunging for them. “Catch them, lads!”

“Uh oh,” Fili says, diving out of the way, dragging Cassia with him. They land in a heap, the trolls lumbering towards them.

“What's your plan?!” Cassia cries as Fili, still lying on his back, kicks at reaching troll hands.

“It's not mine, it's Kili's, and it’s keep away til he gets back!” He replies, scrambling to his feet and pulling her with him.

"This is stupid, you should have gotten Thorin and the others," she says. 

"That's what Kili's doing. Getting the others. Just trust me, it'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

They whirl around, only to discover that they're trapped between trolls and a large boulder, and Cassia's quite sure things are going to get  _ very _ sticky when from behind the trolls comes a dwarvish warcry and Thorin barrels into the clearing, Kili and the others on his heels.

Fili laughs delightedly. “See? Told you it would work!”

“It almost didn't,” she says, still clinging to his arms. 

“Well, let's try not to think on 'could have beens’,” Bilbo says, popping up beside them.

“Brilliant idea, that,” Fili says, “I trust you two have yourselves sorted?”

“I think we do,” Bilbo says.

Fili nods and leaps into the fray. Cassia's brother turns to her.

“What were you thinking?!” he scolds. 

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” she replies. Bilbo sighs and rolls his eyes.

“We'll talk about this later. Let's get the ponies.” 

They creep towards the enclosure, and free them, unnoticed, until one of the trolls lunges for Bilbo. “Move!” Cassia yelps, shoving her brother out of the way. She's grabbed again, this time right around the chest, and the troll grabs her head with his thumb and forefinger. “Let go!” She shrieks, kicking her legs. The troll tightens his grip.

“Lay down your weapons!” He shouts, “or I'll pop her head right off!” 

Cassia goes very still. That does not sound nice at all.

“Cassia!” Fili shouts, and he and Kili lunge forward, but are stopped by Thorin.

 There's a clatter as the dwarves drop their weapons and she's forced to watch as they're one by one stuffed into sacks, protesting all the while. Cassia wonders where the trolls got all the dwarf-sized sacks as half the dwarves are stripped down to their underthings and tied on a spit, and then, when everyone's secured, Cassia herself is stuck in a bag and tossed onto top of the pile of sacked dwarves.

Fili grunts as she lands on him.

“I'm sorry,” she says. 

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“Are you? This is all my fault,” she moans.

“No, its not. I'm supposed to be the responsible one. I should have done something. Come up with a better plan.” They don't notice Bilbo talking with the trolls until the others start shouting protests.

“There's a secret to cooking dwarves?” Bert asks, peering at him.

“Yes," Bilbo says, shaking his head like he's very disappointed with the trolls. "Of course there is! Everyone knows what happens upon consumption of improperly cooked dwarf."

Bert peers at him. "Everyone knows?" 

"Yes," Bilbo says. "Everyone."

"I don't know what happens," Tom says.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't doubt that," Bilbo says.

"I know that I know what happens," Bert says, attempting to be sly, "but how do I know that you know it?"

The hobbit sniffs. "Well, the consequences of eating improperly cooked dwarf is getting sick. Everyone knows that."

“What a load of rubbish!” Bill declares, “I've eaten plenty of dwarves raw! Scoff 'em, I say! Boots and all!”

“‘e’s right!” Tom says, “nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!” He grabs Bombur and lifts him, licking his lips. “Nice and crunchy!”

"You've just been lucky," Bilbo scoffs. "But I can assure you that you won't be  _ this _ time."

"And why do you say that?"

"What is he  _ doing _ ?" Fili hisses in Cassia's ear, "trying to make this worse for us?"

"No," she murmurs, "hush! He's stalling."

"Stalling?" Fili says incredulously.

"Yes. Shhh!"

"I mean," Bilbo is saying, "this lot aren't exactly the highest quality dwarf meat." He looks down at Kili. "Or the cleanest."

Kili splutters indignantly. "I'm clean!" He insists. Bilbo kicks him in the head. "Ow! What was that for?!"

“How would you know that?”

“Well, I’ve been travelling with them for these past months,” Bilbo says. “I’ve seen more than any hobbit ever should.”

“Are you telling us we shouldn’t eat these dwarves?” Bert says. “Are you taking us for fools? There’s no such thing as getting sick after eating dwarf!” He picks up Kili. 

“No!” Cassia yelps. Beneath her, Fili stiffens and sits upright, almost tumbling Cassia off of him.

“Not that one!” Bilbo blurts, “he’s infected!”

“Infected?!”

“Aye! He’s got worms!”

“How can you tell?”

“He hasn’t got any beard. That’s how you tell,” Bilbo says. “If fact, they all have some sort of disease. It’s a horrible business, really. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't. You'll get food poisoning.”

“We don't have parasites!!!” Kili roars. “You have parasites!!!” 

Cassia rolls her eyes. Bilbo sighs.

The dwarves all started yelling again, declaring the absence of worms in their tubes and the likelihood that eating them would cause the runs. There's a muffled thump, and then suddenly, all the dwarves have changed their tune.

“I've got parasites as big as my arm!” Oin declares.

“Mine are bigger!” Fili shouts.

“I've got huge parasites!” Kili roars, wriggling around enough that the troll drops him, “they’re the biggest parasites!!!”

“We're riddled!” Nori cries.

“Yes, I'm riddled!” Ori adds.

“Yes, we are!” Dori says. 

The dwarves all shout over each other, vying to have the biggest parasites and the nastiest diseases. 

“What would you have us do, then?” Bert queries, “let them all go?!” 

“Well,” Bilbo starts. The troll pokes him in the middle none too gently and he doubles over, gasping.

“You could boil them!” Cassia blurts, rolling off Fili and scrambling up to her feet. Good gracious, why did she say that?! “Boiled for safety, you know! It'll kill the parasites!” Shut up, shut up,  _ shut up _ !!! “Then you have to gut them!” Smart move, Cassia.

Everyone's staring at her, appalled.

“N-no, you have to flambe them!” Bilbo butts in. No, that's actually worse than boiling.

The trolls seem at a loss.

“I see what you're trying to do!” Bert says, “the little ferrets are taking us for fools!”

“Ferrets?!” Cassia and Bilbo cry in unison, offended. Just then, Gandalf appears on the ridgeline.

“The dawn will take you all!” He shouts.

Cassia and Bilbo sigh in relief.

“Who's that?” Bert asks.

“No idea,” Bill replies.

“Can we eat him too?” Tom queries.

Gandalf raises his staff and strikes the rock he’s standing on and it splits, letting sunlight through. The trolls shriek and shout as they turn to stone. Cassia and Bilbo gape and the dwarves cheer, wriggling about like a lot of very thrilled worms. 

Gandalf puts out the fire with a flick of his staff and starts untying the spitted dwarves. “Cassia,” he says, “get your brother and the others out of those sacks.”

Cassia jumps, and then turns to Bilbo, untying the top of his sack, and the two of them start of the dwarves.

“‘Skin them first’?” Kili says indignantly as she unsacks him. 

“Feel free to thank me,” she says archly, moving on to his brother.

“At least we aren't eaten,” Fili tells him, and Cassia grins at him.

“ _ Thank  _ you!” 

“That doesn’t mean I approve of nearly being boiled alive.”

“Oh, nonsense,” she says, helping him to his feet, “You weren’t nearly boiled alive.”

“I can assure you, I got closer than I ever thought I would.”

“I thought Bilbo did great, buying for time.”

“I never said that was the problem. That was brilliant, that was.” He reaches out and pulls at her curls. “You've got leaves in your hair, though.” 

“Oh, dear,” she says, “that's embarrassing.”

"Master Baggins," Thorin says gravely, placing his hand on Bilbo's shoulder. The hobbit swallows nervously.

"Yes?"

"Good job. Your quick thinking saved our lives. It appears I have misjudged you."

Bilbo blinks. "Uhm, thank you?"

Thorin grunts and nods. "And you," he continues, turning to Cassia. She jumps, wondering if it's worth it to blame Fili and Kili for the whole incident, but Fili himself beats her to it.

"Don't be too tough on her, uncle," he insists, "it was my idea!"

"No it wasn't," Cassia says, immediately feeling bad for being so ready to throw him under the cart. "It was mine."

"Yes, but I  _ let _ you," Fili says. 

"And I suppose I encouraged it," Kili adds when his brother nudges him. 

"Next time," Thorin says, "and this goes for all three of you, come and get me for the love of Mahal. Miss Baggins, don't come up with stupid schemes, Kili don't encourage her, and Fili, sometimes the best, most responsible thing is to ask someone else for help, do you understand?"

The three of them nod, kicking at the ground and shifting around.

"Understand?" Thorin asks again, and they immediately straighten up.

"Yes, Thorin."

"We've found a cave!" Bofur calls, "and treasure!"

"You know," Cassia says, "I really thought he was going to be angrier."

"He's happy we're all alive, I think," Kili says.

"If someone had died I would have just blamed Fili," she points out.

"Why?!" The dwarf in question splutters. 

"Because you'd take the fall," his brother says.

"Exactly."

"I would not!"

"For Cassia," Kili insists, "you'd take the fall."

"What's  _ that  _ mean?" Both his brother and the hobbit exclaim. Kili sighs, pats Fili's shoulder, and walks away without replying. 

"Kili, what do you mean!!!" Fili calls after him. "Kili!"

He is ignored.

"He's being unusually cryptic," Cassia says.

"I know," Fili agrees. "I don't like it."

She giggles and he gives her a quizzical look. "What?"

"I didn't know that was possible for Kili!"

Fili snorts. "Funny."

“Fili, Cassia!” Thorin calls, “don't get left behind! We're heading to the troll cave!"

“Troll cave?” She asks.

He nods. “You’ve seen what happens to trolls in the sunlight. They probably have a cave around here somewhere.”

“Full of treasure, I bet!” Gloin calls back.

“Treasure from where?” Cassia calls, trotting after him.

“Probably other people they’ve eaten,” Fili says.

Cassia looks back at him, alarmed. He shrugs. “Maybe not.”

The troll cave isn’t far, maybe a quarter mile away. 

Cassia looks down at it with disgust. “I'm not going in there!” She declares firmly. Fili ducks around her. 

“Don't you want an adventure?” He teases, and she frowns. 

“Not that much adventure.”

He laughs. “You can keep watch. Give a shout if anything happens.”

“I will.”

She sits herself on a log, leaning back and watching morning clouds. Bilbo comes over and sits next to her.

“I thought you were investigating the cave,” She says, knocking him with her shoulder.

“There wasn’t much to investigate,” he says. There’s a brief silence, then, Bilbo says, “You scared me.”

Cassia winces. She knew this was coming. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

“It shouldn’t have happened at all!”

“Well-!”

“No, just  _ listen _ for a moment! I let you go on this adventure because you’re nearly an adult, and I can’t control you forever. Because I thought you would be smart and use your head, and let the people who know how to take care of things like trolls to take care of it!”

“But…”

“Do you understand how I would feel if you died? Cassia, you’re all I have left. I  _ can’t _ lose you.”

“Bilbo…” she says softly, but she’s pulled into his arms for a tight hug. "...I'm sorry. What I did was stupid."

"At least you admit it."

"I was lucky Fili was there to rescue me, wasn't I?"

Her brother snorts, like he knows something she doesn't. "I'm pretty sure Fili's always going to be there to rescue you."

"What do you mean by that?"

“Hey, Cassia!” Fili calls, trotting up. She pulls away from her brother and looks up at him, grinning.

“We were just talking about you!”

“Oh,” He looks awkward, “was I interrupting something?”

“No,” Bilbo says.

“He was scolding me,” Cassia whispers to Fili behind her hand.

“It's a good thing I came when I did,” he replies.

Bilbo rolls his eyes and walks over to talk with Gandalf. Cassia giggles and stands. “What did you want, Fili?”

“I found this,” he says proudly, handing her a small knife in a black leather sheath. The hilt is ebony and bronze, embossed with tiny red gemstones. 

“It's lovely,” Cassia says, running her fingers over the bronze. 

Fili smiles. “Draw it. How does it feel?”

She unsheathes it at his instruction, stepping away and swing it around. “It's so light,” she marvels. "It'll be a fine addition to your collection!" She returns the blade to its home and attempts to hand it back, but he doesn't move to take it, shaking his head.

"It's for you."

"Me? Why?"

"To keep you safe, of course."

Cassia cocks her head to the side, genuinely confused. "But I don't need it, Fili. At least not with all of you around looking after me."

"Someday we might not be enough," he says. "You should have a weapon, in case that happens. It probably never will, but it's just a precaution."

"But, Fili, I don't know the first thing about knives or fighting!"

"I can teach you," he says earnestly, taking her by the elbows. 

"But… Fili…"

"Please, Cassia, for me?"

"I don't want to kill anyone," She protests weakly.

"You won't have to. I'd never make you—" he breaks off, trying a different tactic. "A knife is just a tool for protecting yourself." 

Cassia searches his face for a moment. He seems almost... frantic in his desire for her to accept the blade.

"Please," he says softly once more.

"You'll teach me how to use it?"

"Yes. And if everything goes well, you'll never have to. It's just—"

"Just a precaution," she answers for him, "I know." She nods. "I'll take the dagger."

Fili lets out a long breath and grins, taking the sheathed blade from her. "Here, give me your belt, I'll attach it." 

Cassia hands it over and he does so, fastening the belt back around her waist and clasping it with a few quick, practiced movements. 

"This blade is dwarven, you know. Elvish work is pretty, but it has nothing on ours. Good and sturdy, made for small frames and to withstand the test of time." He draws the blade, holding it up. "Look. It's hard to see under the rust, but you see the wavy pattern on the blade?" He turns and holds it to the light, and Cassia peers over his elbow. 

"Yes."

"They call that watered steel or folded steel, it's made from combining two different metals in one blade. I won't bore you with the specifics, but you see the lighter metal?” Cassia peers closer at the wavy pattern. 

“Yes. It's not touched by rust at all.”

“Aye. That was my first clue. That's mithril.”

She looks up at him. “Isn't that insanely rare and valuable?”

“Aye.”

“Oh. Fili, I can't take this!” 

"Nonsense. It's yours. You know why it's so rare and valuable?"

"No?"

"It's found only in Khazad-dûm. Far lighter than steel and as strong as dragonscales. A blade forged of it was said to never lose its edge." Cassia looks up at Fili as he speaks. He has a wondering, excited grin dancing around his mouth. "I've never seen real mithril before, but I've always longed to. It's said that the pure ore could be beaten like copper, that is how easy it was to work with, and it could be polished like glass, too. Back before Khazad-dûm fell, mithril was worth ten times it's weight in gold."

"How much is it worth now?"

"A blade like this? Probably all of Bree and the surrounding farms."

"Fili!" Cassia shrieks. He jumps.

"What!?"

"I can't! I can't take this!"

"Why not?"

"I'm just me!" She tries to unbuckle the belt with shaking hands. "I'm just a Baggins of Bag End, I can't carry around the monetary value of an entire town around strapped to my hip and stab orcs with it! I can't! I just can't!"

"It's value is nothing compared to yours," Filk says firmly. Cassia stills, looking up at him with wide eyes. He takes her hands. "I mean it."

"But…" 

"No buts. Cassia, I found it. It's mine to do with what I wish. I want you to have it."

"Fili…"

He runs the back of his knuckles over her cheek. "Please?"

Cassia surges forward and throws her arms around his middle in a tight hug. "I'll keep it, if you insist," she mumbles into his chest, "but I feel a right fool."

He hugs her back, resting his chin atop her head. "At least you'll be a well-armed fool."


End file.
